Baku....what oil can buy!

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I know, Azerbaijan is not in the Stans or either Central Asia....so little side trip. I did visit Georgia and Armenia with the kids two years ago. We drove all the way back from Yerevan to Tbilisi. But you do not cross that easily from the Christian Armenia to the Muslim Azerbaijan, both country being still officially at war.



So this time, in between two entries in Kazakhstan, here I am in Baku. I applied for an electronic visa for 50usd. Pretty easy affair. I took my 3 hours direct flight from Astana on Air Astana. The flight was full, but the service was pretty impressive....way better than I expected. I'm staying at the Sheraton Baku Airport. This has nothing fascinating. But I'm landing just before midnight, and it doesn't feel that bad to walk straight from the airport to the hotel and in bed. The hotel is like many things here...looking new! No lounges or anything special, just a cheap airport hotel for two nights. Baku is a good 30km away, but the hotel has a free shuttle bus to the city. Well, it ended up being a private car dropping and picking on request free of charge...welcome!



I spent my next day exploring Baku on foot. The weather was beautiful...and the temperature is easily above the 35 degrees. I started by the Old City. Place look very nice, with a site or two to visit. Very few tourists around here too. After the Old City, I spent my time walking around central Baku. The place is stunning. There are way more luxury designers shops here than back in cities like Madrid or Brussels. Yes crude oil is below 50usd for the moment. Azerbaijan is suffering with the low oil prices. But that will turn around again sooner or later...and the party will start again. Not really sure I'm a big fan of this bling-bling. This place did remind me of Beyrouth by many aspects. You will find a stunning Fairmont, a centrally located Four Seasons....even Trump has his name on a building here.



I did climb all the way to a superb view point. Yes, that was a lot of walking for a single day. Food was also on the program....from little restaurants serving nice kebbab...to a look at people around from eating dolmas in a food court in one of the many shopping malls.



The even have a boat cruise which is going kind of nowhere....and back. After all, this is my first look at the Caspian Sea! Still, not much caviar to be found around! That night, I came back to my hotel for a dinner in the hotel sport bar/restaurant. The place was full of international oil workers. These guys are simply spending weeks on oil rigs before coming back home for few weeks of rest. Another day on the road, and my feet were dead!



Next morning, had to do some work...so it was time between enjoying my little room, working a little with a proper internet connection, and yes, some swimming pool time. Next was already time to go back to the airport. Brand new affair again, with luxuries in the duty free you can't even imagine. There is money around here, and there is a lot of it!



I'm back next to Kazakhstan. Ok, these were just short of 48 hours in Baku...wouldn't mind to live here one day...but nothing truly special to say about the place....beside...wow, oil can buy and built a lot!



The serious adventure is starting next, hitting the Silk Road!

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